Abstract

The Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come. The term was used of writers and teachers of the Church, not necessarily "saints", though most are honored as saints in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as in some other Christian groups; notably, the heretics Origen and Tertullian are generally reckoned as Church Fathers. In this paper we will discuss only two Greek Fathers of Church. This paper will examine the contributions of Clement of Alexandria and Irenaeus of Lyon in early Christianity.

Table of Contents

Abstract1

Introduction3

Discussion and Analysis3

Clement of Alexandria4

Clement's contribution towards Christianity5

Irenaeus of Lyon8

Irenaeus' contribution towards Christianity10

Conclusion11

Works Cited12

Clement of Alexandria and Irenaeus of Lyon

Introduction

Christianity, the religious movement that grew out of the teaching and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth two thousand years ago, has spread in a variety of forms and churches across the globe. Jesus was a Jew; his followers never abandoned the Jewish scriptures, though little by little they added to the Jewish "Old Testament" a further collection of writings that became the "New Testament" of their Bible. Christian beliefs and practices of life have to be understood as a mixture of elements and influences in part derived from their Hebrew ancestors, in part the result of the teachings of Jesus of the circumstances in which Christianity subsequently developed.

Historians examining early Christianity have a problem, that being, the subsequent development of an “orthodox” doctrine, and a Church based upon it. Records of other doctrines were either suppressed, or misrepresented, in intervening centuries (Greggs 327).

Discussion and Analysis

The Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops (Caner 396). Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come. The term was used of writers and teachers of the Church, not necessarily "saints", though most are honored as saints in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as in some other Christian groups; notably, the heretics Origen and Tertullian are generally reckoned as Church Fathers (Caner 396). In this paper we will discuss only two Greek Fathers of Church. This paper will examine the contributions of Clement of Alexandria and Irenaeus of Lyon in early Christianity (Caner 396).

Clement of Alexandria

The Clement of Alexandria was one of the famous Greek theologians and early Church Fathers. It is believed that he was born in Athens and received his education at the Alexandrian catechetical school (Stark 327). Clement was originally a pagan but later he proclaimed the role of a presbyter. In 190 AD he was appointed as the catechetical school head and under Clement's leadership the school achieved profound fame (Stark 327).

The Clement of Alexandria left Alexandria and moved to Caesarea when the Christians were persecuted. Some people considered him as a saint as his name often appeared in ancient martyrology of Christians (Stark 327).

Clement argues with his judgment that the thought ...